updated 02:10 pm EDT, Tue October 24, 2006

Sony apologizes for recall

Sony has offered a public apology for the recent massive battery recall that the company began last month, following reports of short overheating notebooks. "We would like to take this opportunity to apologize for the worries," said Sony CEO Yutaka Nakagawa. "We want to put this behind us. [...] I take this problem seriously and I want to finish the replacement program as quickly as possible for the sake of our users and corporate customers." Sony said its battery problems are remedied and that none of the company's top executives would resign as a result of the incident. The Japan-based company claims it has made improvements in production, design, and inspection to prevent any recurrence of laptop overheating issues, according to a report from the Associated Press.

"It's definitely making a dent in Sony's image," said analyst John Yang with Standard & Poor's in Tokyo. Sony last week admitted to a total of roughly 9.6 million recalled batteries manufactured between August 2003 through February of 2006, including one Apple recall totaling 1.8 million batteries in mid-August. Other laptop makers issued similar recalls as a result of the faulty cells including Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, and Gateway.